Gas Hearth Improvements

ABSTRACT

An improved gas fireplace hearth provides a controller and can perform new features. A pressure sensor may be provided to communicate to the controller to warn of a drop of inlet gas pressure to indicate a problem with gas service rather than the hearth. An ambient temperature sensor can provide an input to the controller for various features including a safety feature to shut off gas flow if the hearth becomes too hot. The hearth can be made more efficient by having the controller implement a zero voltage alternating current system to adjust the speed of the fan, flame height, lighting, BTU output or other feature.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 63/316,451 filed Mar. 4, 2022, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to improvements to gas hearths, and moreparticularly to electronically controlled gas hearths as it relates toprogrammable temperature control either through at least one of BTUoutput, flame height and/or fan speed, sensing input gas pressurereceived at the hearth from an external source, and/or providing moreefficient electrical operation over prior art designs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Gas fireplaces and hearths have been in use for decades. These gasfireplaces will often have a pilot valve which can then be employed toignite at least one, if not multiple, burners when those valves areopen. While there have been some efforts at remote control of flameheight and/or fan speed by providing a regulator to the burners incommunication with a remote having a thermostat such to provide anability to regulate temperature at the remote, there is not believed tobe any effort to provide an ability to have other means of temperatureregulation, particularly there is not believed to be any temperaturesensing performed at the hearth.

Another problem with existing prior art hearths is that if the main gassupply to the hearth is closed or otherwise not at a proper pressure,the unit and user are unaware of this except for the inability to keeppilot lights or burners lit, or other problem. One may incorrectlyassume that there is a problem with the hearth.

Finally, temperature control is believed to be performed somewhat in abrute force method by having the thermostat increased the speed of thefan or increase the flame height through a process directed by theremote until the desired temperature is reached. There is believed to bea more efficient way of performing this heating step.

Accordingly, there is a need for an improved hearths and fireplaces inthe marketplace.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is object of many embodiments of the present invention to provide animproved hearth, i.e., a gas fireplace, which can sense incoming gaspressure and use this information for beneficial purposes.

It is another object of many embodiments of the present invention toprovide an improved hearth that may more efficiently regulatetemperature through at least one of operation of a circulation fan,flame height adjustment or desired BTU output.

It is another object of many embodiments of the present invention toprovide an improved hearth which employ zero voltage switching through acontroller for at least one of fan speed, flame height, and lighting toat least one of regulate temperature and lighting in a room through thehearth.

It is another object of many embodiments of the present invention toprovide an improved hearth for use in a connected manner as a “smart”hearth.

It is another object of many embodiments of the present invention toprovide an improved hearth.

Accordingly, in accordance with the presently preferred embodiment ofthe present invention a hearth includes a pressure sensor, whether thatbe a separate sensor, or a sensor integrated into a valve, which sensesthe pressure of either propane or natural gas as provided at the inletof the hearth. The pressure sensor can either sense on or off or canmeasure the pressure for various embodiments. The sensor could beconnected to a processor or controller which could then be incommunication with a display either at the controller or remotelytherefrom so as to alert at least one individual that there is a problemwith the gas pressure that is being provided to the hearth presumably atthe premises. One advantage of this notification system is that thehearth manufacturer is not then initially contacted in the event of aloss of gas so as to create a potential service call for the hearthcompany as opposed to the gas provider to remove a customer serviceissue for the hearth provider. Other benefits may be recognized withthese or other embodiments.

An ambient temperature sensor may be provided in communication with theprocessor or controller so as to sense the ambient temperature in or atthe hearth, preferably by being directly tied to the hearth whether onthe controller or being routed from somewhere on the hearth for at leastsome embodiments. The controller can regulate flame height by modulatingthe flame to turn it up or down based on the temperature reading and/orit could potentially also turn off the flame if excessive temperaturesare detected. Fan speed could also be adjusted in a similar way. It mayalso be that the controller directs the output of BTUs through theburners as opposed to flame height depending on the particularconstruction of the burners.

For many embodiments instead of full “on” until reaching a desiredtemperature setting, as the fan or a full height flame may be controlledthrough zero voltage switching. Zero voltage switching may be employedby a hearth controller so as to optimize the efficiency of the fan orflame height in an effort to provide a desired temperature in anefficient manner and/or provide a desired amount of lighting by thehearth such as for principally aesthetic purposes for principallylighting purposes as opposed to heating purposes.

By employing zero voltage switching by a controller, at least one of thefan, flame height and the lighting may be modulated.

When in zero voltage switching mode, the fan, the flame height and/orother lighting may be controlled via direct Vac (voltage, alternatingcurrent) output via a triac for variable level settings. The output mayhave fuse protection such as 4A peak, 2A continuous, or other values.The flame height and/or fan speed may be controlled as would beunderstood by those of ordinary skill in the art and explained below.Specifically, when turning the fan on it preferably starts for the firstperiod of time such as ten seconds and then regulates down to theappropriate user selected level for at least some embodiments. For thesereduced levels of operation, triac voltage switching preferably occursat the zero cross voltage switchover thereby achieving a reduced levelsetting by missing line cycles and not voltage stepping in the middle ofa voltage wave such as occurs in phase control, etc. Thus, the fan orflame height (or other lighting) may have a delayed start and a delayedoff as specified to ensure that the air may be warm before circulatingand to prevent overheat from residual heating when stopping.

Obviously, if a fan has an alternating current motor to accommodate thezero-voltage switching feature, the controller controls the operation ofthe motor by providing a set percentage of the sine waves for aparticular cycle for a desired fan speed as would be understood by thoseof ordinary skill in the art. A similar operation may be employedlighting and/or flame height. Other features of the hearth may becontrolled in a similar fashion in other embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The particular features and advantages of the inventions with otherobjects will become apparent from the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram representation of the present preferred embodimentof the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a graph showing a comparison between zero voltage switchingand phase control as it relates to alternating current voltage overtime.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows a presently preferred embodiment of the present inventionin the form of a hearth 10 as would be located inside of a fireplace 12principally for office or residential applications. Unlike prior arthearths 10, a controller 14 is preferably provided within the hearth 10to assist in controlling various features of the hearth 10.

First, a sensor 16 may be present in some embodiments, such as apressure sensor, to sense the incoming gas pressure from a gas supply 18which could be propane or natural gas normally stored outside of thebuilding containing the fireplace 12. The sensor 16 could take one ofmany embodiments such as an ability to detect the presence or absence ofa least a predetermined pressure i.e., on/off, and provide a signal tothe controller 14 which then can provide a display such as a warninglight 20 or an indication from the controller 14 as would be explainedin further detail below. By providing this early indication of a lack ofgas pressure (or an improper pressure), then user of the hearth 10 wouldknow that there is no gas being provided to the hearth 10 so that theuser doesn't incorrectly assume that the hearth 10 has a malfunction.Instead, a service provider from the gas company could be called and notthe manufacturer of the hearth 10 or a check of the premises couldreveal a valve securing flow of gas to the hearth, etc. This can reduceif not eliminate many service calls to the hearth manufacturer. Thesensor 16 may be integral to a valve such as main burner valve 22 or anauxiliary burner valve 24 with it being shown integral to the mainburner valve 22 although it certainly could be a separate component suchas along the manifold 26 as the gas supply is being provided to thevarious burners. Sensor 16 could be located at the gas inlet of thevalve or at the gas valve inlet for at least some embodiments. Sensor 16could also be located at or along the pilot assemblies 26,28 andassociated manifold 30 for still other embodiments.

Additionally, the sensor 16 could provide a signal to the controller 14advising of the specific pressure at the sensor 16 so as then be able toprovide that information to a service personnel for further diagnosticcapabilities or other uses for at least some embodiments.

Some embodiments of the hearth 10 may employ a ambient temperaturesensor 34 preferably located internal to the hearth 10 (whether theyhave a pressure sensor 16 or not) and connected to the controller 14 ifnot extending therefrom. The temperature sensor 34 may be utilized toassist in modulating a speed of a fan such as circulation fan 36 to thecontroller 14 as will be described below if not also assist incontrolling BTU output and/or the flame heights from the burners 38and/or 40. The burner 38 may be a primary burner in the illustratedembodiment and the burner 40 may be an auxiliary burner. A burner 38,40(and/or others) may modulate either an infinite number of flame heightsor predetermined flame height such as high, medium, low, etc. Auxiliaryburners 40 may operate similarly or differently. The ambient temperaturesensor 34 may be utilized to turn the fan on or off depending on thetemperature reading. The sensor 34 may also be utilized by thecontroller 14 for at least some embodiments to modulate the flame to behigher or lower based on the temperature reading such as a safetyfeature. The sensor 34 may also be utilized by the controller 14 to turnthe flames off if a predetermined setting is reached which may or maynot relate to the ambient room temperature or even the ambienttemperature internal to the fireplace to potentially be a safetytemperature or serve other purposes for at least some embodiments.

Finally, zero voltage switching as shown in FIG. 2 may be employed withsome embodiments. Instead of phase control as is shown at the top ofFIG. 2 when a load is applied along a non-zero value in voltage, thecontroller 14 may selectively apply a voltage at zero voltage switchingopportunities. Specifically, a triac may be employed to directly controlthe voltage AC output to the fan 36 under various circumstances. Forinstance, when first turning the fan 36 on it may start at 100% for afirst period of time and then regulate with zero voltage switching orotherwise to a reduced level. For the reduced levels of operation, thetriac voltage switching preferably occurs at zero cross voltage switchover, thereby achieving the reduced level setting by missing line cyclesand not voltage chopping in the middle of voltage sine waves. Thisfeature may dramatically increase the efficiency of the fan 36. Thisfeature potentially minimizes the electrical interference injected outthe power lines in relation to a traditional dimming device with AC wirechopping. The fan 36 may also have a delayed start and/or delayed off toensure that the air is warm before circulating and/or the system issecured there is no overheating such as from residential heating onstopping. Light 42 may be similarly adjusted if not the flame heightfrom the burners 38,40 as well. Dramatic reduction of electrical energyusage could be required by the zero-voltage switching option.

In order to change or direct operation of the controller 14, it may bethat remote communication through one or more devices is employed suchas a Wi-Fi or router 50 which may communicate with a Bluetooth or otherreceiver 52 in communication with the controller 14. Various appliancessuch as Echo or Siri units such as illustrated as device 54, may permitverbal communication to control and/or provide other controls variousspeeds of the hearth 10 as would be understood by those of ordinaryskill in the art. A dedicated remote 56 could also be utilized tocommunicate directly with a receiver 52. A wall mounted switch 58 maycommunicate either wired or wirelessly with the controller 14 such asthrough wire 60 or wirelessly as illustrated. A smartphone or othercomputing device 60 may communicate through the Wi-Fi system 50, BLE orother system. A Wi-Fi Bluetooth hub 64 may be utilized with still otherembodiments as would be understood by those or ordinary skill in theart. Furthermore, a cell phone or other computing device 66 maycommunicate through the world wide web 68 to communicate with the router50 for at least some embodiments.

Accordingly, displays such as to indicate a loss of gas pressure couldbe displayed on any of the various remote device such as cell phones62,64, remote 56 or other displays. A verbal warning may be provided bya communicating system 54 or various alters provided. Other features ofthe hearth 10 may be communicated to displays or the various devices aswell.

Operation of the hearth 10 may be at least assisted utilizing controlledor regulated by various remote systems illustrated. Specifically, atemperature setting could be set to be provided. A fan speed could beset, a flame height could be set, or other feature could be provided aswould be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art. A “smart”hearth 10 can be provided by the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 or others awould be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art.

Numerous alterations of the structure herein disclosed will presentthemselves to those skilled in the art. However, it is to be understoodthat the present disclosure relates to the preferred embodiment of theinvention which is for purposes of illustration only and not to beconstrued as a limitation of the invention. All such modifications whichdo not depart from the spirit of the invention are intended to beincluded within the scope of the appended claims.

Having set forth the nature of the invention, what is claimed herein is:1. A gas hearth comprising: at least a main burner; a controller; and apressure sensor in fluid communication with the at least a main burnersensing gas pressure and providing a signal to the controller; whereinwhen the controller detects a pressure at the pressure sensor is below apredetermined value, providing a signal directing an output to bedisplayed related to the low pressure situation.
 2. The gas hearth ofclaim 1 wherein the output is displayed at a display connected to thehearth.
 3. The gas hearth of claim 1 wherein the output is displayedremotely from the hearth on one of a computing device and a remote. 4.The gas hearth of claim 1 wherein the pressure sensor is connected tovalve of the gas hearth.
 5. The gas hearth of claim 4 wherein thepressure sensor is connected to a burner valve.
 6. The gas hearth ofclaim 1 wherein the pressure sensor is connected to one of a pilotassembly and a manifold of the hearth.
 7. The gas hearth of claim 1further comprising an ambient temperature sensor connected to thehearth, said ambient temperature sensor providing a signal to thecontroller, said controller shutting off gas flow through the at least amain burner if ambient temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature.8. The gas hearth of claim 1 wherein controller employs zero voltageswitching to control at least one of flame height, fan speed andlighting at the hearth.
 9. The gas hearth of claim 1 wherein thepressure sensed by the pressure sensor is displayed to a user.
 10. A gashearth comprising: at least a main burner; a controller; and an ambientsensor sensing gas pressure and providing a signal to the controller;wherein the ambient temperature sensor provides a signal to thecontroller, said controller shutting off gas flow through the at least amain burner if ambient temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature.11. The gas hearth of claim 10 further comprising a pressure sensor influid communication with the main burner; and


12. The gas hearth of claim 10 wherein the controller employs zerovoltage switching to control at least one of flame height, fan speed andlighting at the hearth.
 13. The gas hearth of claim 12 wherein thecontroller initially directs a maximum of one of gas flow through themain burner and fan speed for a predetermined period of time and thenlowers the one of gas flow and fan speed at a zero voltage node of an ACinput.
 14. The gas hearth of claim 12 wherein the controller initiallydirects a change in lighting intensity at the hearth at a zero voltagenode of an AC input.
 15. The gas hearth of claim 12 wherein thecontroller delays the starting and stopping of one of a change in flameheight and fan speed for a predetermined period of time as a delay. 16.The gas hearth of claim 15 wherein the delay of the controller ends at azero voltage node of an AC input.
 17. A gas hearth comprising: at leasta main burner; and a controller; wherein controller employs zero voltageswitching to assist in controlling at least one of BTU output, flameheight, fan speed and lighting at the hearth, by adjusting analternating voltage output as the voltage passes through the zerovoltage node.
 18. The gas hearth of claim 17 wherein the controllerdelays the starting and stopping of one of a change in flame height andfan speed for a predetermined period of time as a delay before the zerovoltage node.
 19. The gas hearth of claim 17 further comprising: anambient sensor sensing gas pressure and providing a signal to thecontroller; and wherein the ambient temperature sensor provides a signalto the controller, said controller shutting off gas flow through the atleast a main burner if ambient temperature exceeds a predeterminedtemperature.
 20. The gas hearth of claim 17 further comprising: apressure sensor in fluid communication with the at least a main burnersensing gas pressure and providing a signal to the controller; andwherein when the controller detects a pressure at the pressure sensor isbelow a predetermined value, providing a signal directing an output tobe displayed related to the low pressure situation.